Legal Guardian
by Marriella Bullet
Summary: Pre ESB: The Alliance has become corrupt, and our hero's have decided to go on, on their own. But something goes wrong and Luke finds himself separated from his friends. And then, Vader pops up, wanting to become Luke's legal guardian...
1. Prologue

**A.N: I am well aware that this is not part of the original version of the story, but everyone thought it was necessary, so here is the prologue to show you why and how the Alliance became corrupt.**

**Legal Guardian: Prologue**

Mon Mothma, leader of the Rebel Alliance, gazed around the conference room, eyeing every officer and Alliance committee member. They were still on Yavin, and the Alliance needed to find a new base as soon as possible, to avoid getting wiped out by the Empire.

"Gentlemen," Mothma began. "As you all know, the Empire is still very much intact, and now that we have destroyed the Death Star, they will be looking for us more intently, now more than ever." Everyone silently nodded. "I have gone over possible new bases with some of you, and now it is time to decide which planet is best."

"Well I, for one, wish to pick Jomark," General Madine declared.

"Jomark is a populated system," General Donnada, one of the people who had not previously gone over the possible new bases, said.

"I agree with Donnada," another officer declared. "It would be impossible to move our base of operations to a populated system without being discovered."

"You forget," Madine said, "That it was the Jomarkans who alerted the Empire of our presence when we asked for assistance. They said they would help, and then turned on us as soon as we let out guard down."

"That's true," Donnada commented. "What are you suggesting?"

"That we wipe them out. We would be taking care of two things, paying them back for what they did, and get a new base at the same time. There is currently no imperial presence on Jomark, and it's in the outer rim, which means that no one will know that anything ever happened," Madine finished, leaning back in his chair, smiling.

There was silence in the room while everyone contemplated this. It was true that there were not many people on Jomark, and those few people who _did_ live there were loyal subjects of the Empire. Because of the Jomarkans alerting the Empire, hundreds of rebels had been killed. It was time for the Alliance to take action.

"Very well," Mothma said at last. "Whoever disagrees with this course of action, speak now." Everyone in the room remained silent. It was obvious that they all agreed with this new plan. "Very well. We will have to tell the other lower ranking officers know about this, but I believe that this is the plan that we'll be going with."

With that, the meeting was finished, and everyone began to exit the conference room.

"Mothma," Madine said, coming up beside her. "What do you think Princess Organa will think about this?"

Mon Mothma paused for a moment before answering. "She's still ignorant of some of the things that we must do because we're at war. She doesn't believe in bloodshed, but we must get her to see that this is the right thing to do."

General Madine nodded. "So we'll see you at the next conference?"

"Yes. Have Solo and Skywalker attend as well. I believe that they need to know of this plan too."

"Very well."

With that, Madine and Mothma parted, each on their way to perform their own tasks before the next meeting when they would finalize their decision.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

**A.N: Are you guys happy now? Please review and let me know if this prologue explains the story a little better for you guys!**


	2. Dumped

**Legal guardian**

**Summery: The Alliance has become corrupt, and our hero's, not trusting the rebellion any more, try to go out on their own, But on a mission gone wrong, Luke gets separated from his friends on Courescant. And right when Luke thinks that things couldn't possibly get worse, Vader pops up wanting to become Luke's legal guardian….**

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. I'm just borrowing this universe from George Lucas.**

**Chapter One: Dumped**

"Hay, kid! Come on, if you don't want to get in trouble, you might wanna hurry!"

Luke smiled at the Correlian. Han may sound uncaring, but if he really was, he wouldn't have come back to save him that day above the Death Star. The day that he'd become a hero.

It was a funny thing, being a hero. All his life, Luke was used to being ignored and abused. Now all of a sudden, he was a celebrity, and everyone wanted to be his friend.

Oh, he had so many friends! More friends than he had ever had in his life! For the first time in eighteen years, Luke felt like he truly belonged. Like he was loved, and he could trust everyone. After all, he had always been very trusting.

Han always commented on that like it was bad. Maybe it was, since they were in the middle of a war, and you weren't supposed to trust everyone you met. But Luke didn't know how to do anything else!

Luke had been raised to trust in the good in everyone and not to focus on the bad. So naturally, he always was trying to dwell on the good in people instead of vice versa.

Leia was the complete opposite of him when it came to trust. She didn't trust anyone. Aside from the Alliance leaders, and him, of course. She didn't even trust Han! (Not that he had given her much of a reason to!) But Luke trusted Han and Chewie. What Leia though of Chewie was a mystery.

But when Luke came to think of it, Leia didn't even trust the Alliance Leaders as much as she used to. Lately, she'd been complaining that the leaders had forgotten why they were fighting against the empire, and that they had lost site about what really mattered. Oh well!

It was then that Luke noticed that he was standing in front of the door that led into the conference room, just staring at the entrance.

Luke blushed in embarrassment, hoping that no one had been around to see his weird behavior, and opened the door.

Everyone was already there; Han, Leia, Mon Mothma, and the rest of the leaders that ran everything. (Much to Leia's distress these days.)

Once again, Luke blushed for being the last one there. (He had always made a point of being on time for everything.) And he sat down next to Han, who ruffled his hair, giving him a cocky grin. Luke returned it with a shy smile, and the meeting began.

"As you all know," Mothma began. "We cannot stay here on Yavin. The empire will eventually send troopers here to try and wipe us out. We must move operations elsewhere."

Everyone nodded in agreement. (Even Leia.)

"We have considered Jomark. There aren't many people, and the few that are there, we can have them move somewhere else, or we can permanently put them out of their misery. That would be the safer way to do things."

"Hold it for just one MINUTE!" Leia nearly screamed.

"Princess Organa, please control yourself," Mothma said calmly.

"Are you saying that we will deprive people of their homes –maybe even their lives- just out of lack for a new base?"

"Jomark is far out of site of the empire. It's the logical choice. It's not our fault that other people are dwelling there," Mothma said, coolly.

"We are part of the Alliance!" Leia said, defiantly screaming. "We don't kill people off out of necessity! That's why we are fighting the empire! To put a stop to things like that! At this point, I hope the empire wins this war!"

"Princess, you are speaking blasphemy!" General Madine exclaimed.

"You are the people speaking blasphemy! If you persist in these acts of terrorism, then I will no longer support this group of rebels!" Leia declared defiantly.

In the meantime, Luke had also been listening, horrified by these people's plans. He had joined the Alliance because he thought that they were fighting to restore freedom to people, not kill the people!"

"I agree with Leia!" Luke declared, standing up. "I thought that we were supporting people, not destroying them!"

Despite the situation, Leia couldn't help but smile. Luke was so good! Always trying to help other innocent people.

"Skywalker, Organa, these people are loyal to the empire. They would be no big loss."

"No big loss?" Leia asked in surprise. "NO BIG LOSS? At this point, it would be no big loss if the empire were to come here and wipe you out!" Leia yelled.

"I was thinking the same thing myself," Han said, casually. Standing up to join Luke and Leia in defiance.

"From this day forth," Mothma said. "You three will be considered traitors of the Rebel Alliance! You have one day to leave. I suggest that you get started."

"Fine," Han muttered under his breath. "Boring Alliance anyway."

Outside the door, Leia continued her fit.

"How dare they kill all those innocent people! They're no better than the empire!"

"Your Worship, get a grip! If you don't want them shooing us out with the angry end of a blaster!"

"How could they do something like that?" Luke wondered. "I thought that the Rebels were the good-guys."

"They were the good-guys, Luke," Leia said, as if she were talking to a child. Then Han decided to ad in his commentary.

"But when they decide that killing people who don't entirely agree with their ideas is okay, then I suggest you find a new crowd to hang with!"

"Hay, what's going on?" Wedge asked, as he approached the depressed group.

"The Rebellion dumped us," Han said, bluntly.

"What? What for?" Wedge demanded. Leia broke in.

"The Alliance leaders want to kill innocent people so they can get a new base of operations!"

"What? That's crazy!" Wedge declared.

"That's what we said. That's how we got dumped," Luke explained.

"How much longer have you guys got?" Wedge asked.

"Until the end of this day," Leia said, glumly.

"I'll see you guys later," Wedge announced. "I've got some stuff to think over!"

**Author's Note: Do you like the story? Please review and let me know! Reviews are what keep me going!**


	3. Separated

**Author's Note: I know the first chapter was really short. It was really just a chapter to let you know why our hero's aren't in with the Alliance anymore. This is the chapter where things begin to happen!**

**Chapter Two: Separated**

"Your move," Han said to Luke.

They were sitting down in the Falcon's living space, playing the only game that the ship had. They had been here, with the ship hidden in a factory on Courescant for two months. Not really having anything to do. Leia had complained about going to Courescant at first, but Han commented that they weren't rebels anymore, so it wasn't like that had anything to worry about. After a few weeks, staying under cover here at the factory, Leia decided that it wasn't so bad. They only went out of the factory when they needed to buy more supplies. But other than that, they stayed in the Falcon trying to keep themselves busy.

"That's a good move," Han said, his face contorted in concentration. "I can't believe it; I'm losing to a kid!"

"Make your move," Luke said, with a cocky grin.

"Don't get cocky, kid. That's how you lose." Han paused for a moment. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Thanks for the advice, Han. I'll be sure to use it to my advantage."

Han threw his hands up in defeat.

"This is the most boring game in the galaxy!"

"Are you saying that 'cause you're losing?" Luke asked.

"No. Well, that too, but I meant that because we've played this game twenty times a day for two months strait!"

Luke and Han slumped down in their chairs. It was true; this game had gotten boring a month ago. But other than that, there was nothing to do. Except for…..

"Maybe we can have Leia cook us something to eat!" Luke exclaimed. Han shook his head.

"The only thing that her worship can do is sit in her room and complain about how terrible her life is!"

Both Han and Luke laughed at this. It did seem that, that was all she did these days. But Han and Luke were both terrible cooks. And there was nothing else to do. Luke gave Han an innocent, cute face that was enough to get the most evil person in the universe to tuck him in bed and read him a bedtime story. Whatever that face was capable of, it _was _capable of getting Han to ask Leia if she'd cook them something.

"Alright! Alright! We might as well pester _somebody_! But you're coming with me! All you have to do is give Leia a look at that cute little face of yours, and she'll give you all her money!"

"She will?"

"Forget that I said that."

The two friends walked to the other side of the Falcon where the bunk room was. In there, as usual, was Leia, sitting on her bunk, staring at the ceiling.

"Leia," Luke began. "Han and I are bored…."

"So you decided to come and pester me?" Leia interrupted.

"No, we want you to cook us something, we're hungry."

"What do I look like? A maid? Cook it yourself!"

Luke didn't have to fake his innocently hurt look. He didn't think that Leia was capable of being so mean! Well, he knew that she could be mean, but she had never been mean to him before. So therefore, his face looked even more heartbreaking.

When Leia looked up at her young friend, her face softened. Just because she was angry, it didn't mean that she had to take it out on her friends.

"What do you want to eat?"

Luke and Han grinned.

"Anything! We're so hungry, we don't care what we eat!"

"Alright, I'll dinner ready in a few minutes!"

After Leia left the room, Han and Luke high-fived each other. They were going to eat something good at last!

Han and Luke went into the Falcons' living space to wait until their food was ready.

In there, they saw Threepio and Chewie playing the game that they'd been hogging for two months, and Artoo was leaning against Threepio, giving advise.

"Yes, I knew what to do, Artoo! Stop acting like you know what you're talking about!" Threepio whined. Chewbacca growled.

Han and Luke exchanged annoyed glances. This reminded both of them of the time when they had first seen the Wookie play against the droids. Last time, Han had said that a Wookie would pull your arms out of your sockets if he lost. But Chewie hadn't done that yet!

Luke and Han were about to sit down, when they heard blaster blots outside.

"What the heck!" Han exclaimed

The ramp was forcibly lowered, and some aliens came in shooting. Han, Luke and Chewie dove for cover, and started shooting back.

"Leia, get in here! We're under attack!" Han yelled in the direction of the galley.

Leia came in a few seconds later, also shooting.

"We can't hold this up forever! We're outnumbered!" Leia said.

"Oh, you noticed did you?" Han shot back, sarcastically.

Suddenly, Leia was hit by and stun bolt, and went down.

A stun bolt?

"Leia!" Luke exclaimed.

"She's fine, kid! Worry about yourself…." It was then that Han also got hit by a blaster set on stun. Fortunately for him, it only got his legs, and Han fell to the floor.

"Han!"

"Don't worry about me, kid!" But Luke didn't listen, and tried to get his friend to safety.

"Chewie, take care of the kid! Get out of here!"

Even though Chewie owed Han a life debt, he knew an order when he saw one, and he started pulling Luke to the exit. But then, he got occupied with some more aliens, and he let go of Luke, and growled at him to get out before he got stunned like Han and Leia.

"But I want to help!"

/The best way to help is to get out alive so you can rescue them later/ Chewie exclaimed.

Seeing the wisdom in what the Wookie was saying, Luke ran out of the Falcon, and into the factory.

There were more aliens outside, but it was so dark, nobody saw him as he left the factory, and escaped into the night.

Luke didn't know how long he ran, but it felt like hours. The streets of Courescant all looked the same. Especially at night time.

At last, tired, hungry and exhausted, Luke found an ally, and sat down, trembling.

What would he do now? He should have waited for Chewie, rather than run away. He felt like a coward. He should have stayed behind and helped. He had no idea where he was, he had no food, no money, no place to stay. He had nothing! He was only eighteen, how was supposed to know that something like this was going to happen? And what was worse, Chewie had no idea where he was and Han and Leia were in no position to help him. Actually, he should be the one trying to save them, but he didn't know how to get back to the Falcon!

A tear rolled down Luke's cheek. How was he going to get out of this one?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Chewie ran this way and that on the streets of Courescant.

The aliens had taken Han, Leia and he assumed that the same could be said for the droids.

Luke had to be somewhere. Han had told him to take care of Luke. So until they found Han and the Correlian told him otherwise, Luke was his responsibility, and he had to make sure nothing happened to him.

Pretty nice way to start out! He had no idea where the young boy was! He could be anywhere!

Chewie growled in determination. He was going to find Luke, and after he made sure that Luke was alright, he was going to rescue the others. And no one was going to stop him!

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

In his palace on Courescant, Darth Vader felt little ripples of desperation coming through the Force.

It was Luke! His son was here on Courescant!

He had only discovered about Luke and month ago, and now that he knew the boy was on the same planet that he was on, it sent chills up and down his spine.

What was Luke doing here? Was he with the Rebels? Was he here with his smuggler friend? And what was he doing here? Didn't he know that it was dangerous for any rebel to come to Imperial Center? No, probably not. From what he'd heard of his son, Luke had been off Tatooine for only a short while, and he probably wasn't used to the way the real galaxy worked.

Well, none of that really mattered. What _did_ matter was that his son was here, and he was going to find him before he decided to leave the planet!

**Author's Note: Who likes the story? Please review to keep me writing!**


	4. Discovered

**Chapter Three: Discovered**

Three hours later, Luke sat in the same ally, unmoving and scared.

He was still in shock. Just a few hours ago, he'd been sitting in the Falcon, having fun with the others, and now, they were gone. Captured by unknown enemies, and he was here, undecided about what to do.

It was around midnight, which meant that it was really cold. And what made it worse was that it was raining very hard, drenching Luke completely, and making him shiver in the cold. He wanted to get out of the cold rain, but there was nowhere to go.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Vader sensed his son very well now. He was close.

Vader had been driving his speeder through Courescant, searching for Luke for hours. He had sent out patrols, but Vader didn't trust them to be careful if they found Luke, and he had decided to search for his wayward son personally.

There, he had to be in that ally to his right.

Vader parked his speeder next to the ally, and stepped out into the rain. Luke must be crazy to be out in the middle of the night during the rain period!

Vader walked around the corner, and was rewarded with the sight of his son.

Luke hadn't noticed him yet, and Vader decided to make the most of this by studying his son before he made his presence known.

Luke sat with his back to the wall of the building next to him, hugging his upper body, rubbing his arms. A tear rolled down his son's cheek. Something had gone wrong. Something that had left his son alone and abandoned with no one to turn to.

Luke shivered, and Vader decided that it was time to let Luke know of his presence.

"Skywalker," Vader said, stepping into view.

Luke whirled his head around to see who was talking. His eyes widened for a moment, his face betraying his horror, but then he hid his fear and now it only showed in his eyes.

"Why do you care?" Luke asked, almost trying to make his enemy angry.

This wasn't exactly how Vader thought Luke would act. Ususally, when he surprised someone by walking up next to them, the quarry would rush to it's feet and try something stupid. But not Luke. He remained seated on the ground, staring at Vader with feirce blue eyes.

Vader decided to change the subject. "You need to get out of the rain if you don't want to get sick, child."

"You're not the boss of me!" Luke shot back, angrily.

Had the situation been different, Vader may have pointed out that he actually _was _the boss of Luke, considering that he was the boy's father, but this wasn't the right time to reveal Luke's parentage.

"You should at least be with your friends," Vader said, trying to find out what had happened, and why his son was sitting in an ally.

Luke laughed dryly. "Yeah, sure. If I want to end up dead."

This was interesting. Apparently, his friends were either in great danger, or they had just gotten _really _mad at Luke. Still, it would help to know exactly how the boy had ended up here on Imperial Center, all alone.

"Well do you plan to go anywhere?" Vader asked.

Luke looked at Vader suspicously. He'd never thought Vader would ask questions like this. Luke thought he would just want to kill him. After all, he must have been really angry when the Death Star was destroyed. Too bad Vader hadn't been on the Death Star when that happened.

Luke decided to just play it cool. "I don't have any plans at the moment." When Vader just continued to look at him, Luke explained. "In other words, I have nowhere to go."

"Come," Vader said, holding out his hand. If the boy thought that he had nowhere to go, then that would work to his advantage. He could find out what happened later. Right now, he needed to get his son into something warm.

"What do you want?" Luke asked, fear in his voice.

"I want to get you the rest and nourishment that you desperately need."

Now Luke was more then suspicous. Vader knew that he was a rebel. Then why was he acting... nice? This was totally contraditcting everything that he'd heard of Vader. He wasn't _supposed _to act this way! Luke actually would have prefered Vader acting like the vicous murderer that he was. It was more unsettling for Vader to be nice, then for him to be evil.

"Would you actually do that for me?" Luke asked, making his doubt obvious.

"Yes," Vader answered simply.

It wasn't very convincing, but it was enough for Luke, and he took Vader's hand…. and nearly collapsed under the weight of his legs, which he hadn't used in three days.

Vader put his arm around his son's waist, and kept him from falling, and he gently helped Luke into his speeder.

It was a short drive back to Vader's palace. Neither Luke, nor Vader tried talking. Luke was too tired and Vader understood, so he just focused on driving. When they got to the palace, Vader took Luke to a large room in his personal wing.

"This will be your room," Vader said. "If there's anything you need, use the com next to the bed."

"I don't think I'll be needing anything," Luke muttered under his breath, staring at the huge room.

Vader left, knowing that Luke would want to go right to sleep, which was fine with him. He had a lot to think over.

When Vader left, Luke didn't even bother to try to find something to sleep in. He just collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep at once.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The next morning, Luke woke up, trying to remember how he'd ended up in a bed that felt as soft as a cloud.

Oh yeah, Vader found him. Right, and Vader hadn't acted the way he though he would. In fact, he had been rather nice.

Then Luke remembered Han, Leia and Chewie. No, they were still captured. Maybe even dead. And Chewie would never guess where he was.

At that moment, the door opened, and Vader stepped in. He looked much more intimidating now that it was brighter and he could see him clearly.

Luke tried to sit up, and found it to difficult.

"Good morning, child."

Luke smiled, trying not to laugh. If only he could have filmed Vader saying that and set it up on the galactic holonet!

"You seem to be doing better. How do you feel?"

"Uh, hungry, I guess." Luke said, still confused by Vader's behavior.

"I told the kitchen droids to get you something. Your food will be here soon."

Luke nodded. "Okay, thanks." He paused. "Out of curiosity, why are you acting nice? It scares me."

Vader cocked his head to one side. "Is there a reason not to be nice?"

Luke continued talking, this time, very sarcaticlly "Oh, no. No reason. Except for maybe we're on opposite sides of this war, you killed my father and you tortured Leia."

"Oh right. Sorry about that. But I do have an empire to run."

About that," Luke said. "I also don't like the empire since they killed my family."

Vader paused, contemplating this. "Your family?"

"My aunt and uncle," Luke said, thinking back about the day when he'd come home trying to find them, and then all he found was the smoldering remains. "Your troops killed them."

"A regrettable loss if you truly cared about them," Vader said without the slightest hint of regret. He never really liked Owen Lars. He just never liked the idea of his mother marrying anyone, so he naturally resented anyone who had become his family because of that marrige.

"Of course I cared about them! They were my family!"

"You were treated well?" Vader asked. Luke reeled at this. Since when did Vader care if he was treated well?

"Uh, I guess so. Hmm, unless Uncle Owen got mad for no darn reason. Then he'd take it out on me."

"What?" Vader asked, his mood darkening. If Owen Lars had hurt Luke while raising him, then... well he couldn't do anything to him. He was already dead.

Luke began to get scared. The last thing he wanted to do was get Vader mad. "Nothing."

"This isn't 'nothing'. You said that your uncle would take his anger out on you. Did you ever get hurt?"

"I was always up in a few days at the worst," Luke said, trying to calm Vader's rising temper.

"In a few _days?_" Vader exclaimed.

"Hay, since when did you care! You don't have to freak out! He's dead now."

"Thank the Force."

"See, that's why I don't like you. You don't care if someone dies. And this is _exactly_ why I left the Alliance!"

Vader turned in interest. Well, this was news. If his son wasn't part of the Alliance anymore, then this would be easier then he ever thought it would be. "You left the Alliance?"

There was a long pause. "Uh, well, actually I was kicked out," Luke admitted, quietly.

"So you're no longer welcome there?"

"I was labeled a traitor, so yeah. Why do you care anyway? Why do you care about anything I do?"

"Believe it or not, I care about everything you do, child."

"Oh, that's nice to know," Luke said, sarcastically.

Before Vader could say anything, they heard shooting coming from the hallway.


	5. Legal Affairs

**Author's Note: Feel free to criticize my work. Because I really need some help in some areas! Trust me, I know!**

**Chapter Four: Legal Affairs**

"What in the name in the Force is going on!" Vader exclaimed as he walked to the door to see what all the shooting was about. Luke tried to get out of bed and follow him.

"You stay in bed," Vader said, pointing a finger at him.

After Vader left, Luke got out of bed anyway. Just because Vader had let him stay in his palace, that didn't mean that Vader had any control over him. Luke was a free person, and no one had any authority over him ever since his aunt and uncle had been killed.

When Luke stood up, he noticed that he was wearing black silk pants and shirt. When had be put this on? These were so nice! Were these really meant to sleep in?

But Luke didn't have time to dwell on this. He had a feeling that he was needed in the hallway.

When Luke opened the door and looked out, he saw five troopers trying to restrain a maddened Wookie. A Wookie with a bowcaster. Vader was speaking.

"Get this Wookie out of here!"

But Luke recognized the Wookie.

"Chewie!"

Luke ran towards the Wookie, dodging the troopers along the way.

Chewie was so happy to finally see the young boy, he forgot about the guards, and lifted Luke in his arms like he was holding a doll, while Luke threw his arms around Chewbacca's neck, leaning his head into the Wookie's chest, and Chewie began spinning around in circles, still holding Luke.

Vader watched all of this in jealousy. His son had disobeyed him, and was now feeling overwhelming joy at seeing a Wookie. A thing that he trusted. Vader wished that Luke would feel that way about him. Vader wanted nothing more but to tell the child that he was his father. But Luke needed to completely recover before he was told.

Enough of this! He needed to regain control of the situation if his plan was going to work.

"I told you to stay in bed, Luke," Vader said. Chewie looked at the child in his arms.

/What is all this about? How did you get here/ Chewie asked.

"This isn't what it looks like," Luke said, realizing that all this looked really suspicious to his Wookie friend. "It's a long story."

"A story which you can explain in bed, young one. In case you didn't know, you have a cold," Vader stated. Chewie got angry at this.

/I can take it from here, thank you very much! Luke has been placed under _my_ protection/

Luke smiled, resting his head on Chewbacca's shoulder, and closing his eyes.

Vader bristled at this. His son looked so content in a non-human's arms.

"You haven't done a very good job in taking care of him," Vader commented. "I found him alone and abandoned in an ally."

Now Chewie was REALLY mad! And Luke, feeling the tension in the room, cut in.

"It was my fault! I ran off when I shouldn't have!"

"Had you been in _my_ care, young one, you wouldn't have had a reason to run off."

"What would you know? You weren't even there!" Luke declared.

"Stop screaming, Luke. You should be using your energy to get better."

"You have no control over me!" Luke said, deliberately bringing his voice up a notch.

/Be quiet, little one. I can handle this. / Chewie said.

Luke shut his mouth immediately, and once again, Vader felt jealous. His son had obeyed the Wookie without question, when he wouldn't obey him. It was clear that the Wookie would have to go. But not right now, or he may lose the boy forever. Vader addressed the Wookie.

"Wouldn't it be better for us to discuss this while Luke is resting?"

Chewie paused. He didn't trust Vader any more than he could throw him. But it was smarter to argue without Luke looking on, adding his commentary.

/Where's your room, little one/ Chewie asked Luke.

"Over there, to the right."

Chewie carried Luke to his room and tucked him in bed, before turning and following Vader out of the room.

Vader lead the Wookie across the hall to the conference room. After the door closed behind them, Chewie began.

/I don't know what you want with Luke, but I _do_ know that it would be better for Luke if he was with me. /

"Oh really?" Vader asked. "And what makes you think so? Is leaving the boy unsupervised and lost on Imperial Center what you call best for him?"

Chewie bristled at this.

/Luke already told you, he ran off. /

"Ah, yes. But he couldn't run off if he was with me," Vader declared.

/What do you want from him/

"That is not what we are talking about. If you really want to settle this, we can have a legal representative of Imperial Child Care Services come over here and decide which of us should be Luke's guardian."

Chewie growled.

/Luke is old enough to take care of himself/

"No. Actually, a person must be twenty-one years old before he can legally take care of himself. Look it up."

/I owe Han a life debt, and he told me to take care of Luke. So that's what I'm going to do/

"We'll let the representative settle that," Vader said, reaching for the com.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Luke woke up a few hours later. Remembering what happened, he sat up, looking around for Chewie. He saw him sitting in a chair, next to his bed.

/How do you feel, little one/ Chewie asked.

"I'm fine. Did you fix everything?"

/I'm not sure. /

"You're not sure? What's that supposed to mean?"

Chewie motioned to the left, and Luke saw Vader and a lady that he'd never seen before watching them.

"Who's that?" Luke asked.

/She's a legal representative of Imperial Child Care Services. /

"She's WHAT?" Luke yelled. "Is this because of me?"

Chewie nodded.

"I'm not a child!" Luke declared.

At this point, the lady who had been silent until now spoke up.

"We've noticed that you're not a child. But neither are you an adult. In order to take care of yourself, you must be at least twenty-one."

Luke stared for a moment before coming up with an answer.

"Since when was that law actually enforced? I know people younger than me who take care of themselves!"  
"This isn't about those others," Vader said. "This is about you."

"Don't you say anything!" Luke said, pointing a finger at Vader. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in this mess!"

"So how did the boy come to be in your care, Lord Vader?" the representative (whose name was Parcey Ligmet,) asked.

In truth, she found this situation rather amusing; Lord Vader and a Wookie arguing over who was going to be the boy's guardian. But she tried to keep a strait face.

Luke interrupted before Vader could say anything.

"That's my business, not his, yours, or anybody's!"

Vader ignored Luke's comment.

"I found him in an ally. He hadn't eaten anything for three days."

"And I STILL haven't had anything to eat!" Luke declared.

Vader pointed at the table next to Luke, which had a tray with more food than Luke had ever seen meant for one person.

Luke pulled the tray onto his lap while Vader continued to speak.

"He had been attacked by aliens, and no one bothered to help him, so he ran off."

"They WERE trying to help me!" Luke said, between bites.

Parcey turned to Chewie.

"If you gained guardianship over the boy, where would he live?"

/My friend and I have a ship. That's where we've been living. /

"You should have added that your ship is a piece of junk," Vader said. "It's a miracle that it can fly without falling apart."

Chewie snarled.

"Look at that Wookie!" Vader declared. "I can't believe that you can even consider it to be the boy's guardian!"

"Well, if I had my choice, I wouldn't pick either of you to be his guardian," Parcey said.

Luke started laughing. He didn't like this lady, but when she wanted to, she could be so funny!

"_But_," Parcey continued. "If I _had_ to pick one of you, it would have to be Lord Vader."

"WHAT?" Luke screamed. "You can't be serious! He chokes people for fun! I don't even _like_ him!"

"If you'll just sign here, Lord Vader," Parcey said, handing Vader a data pad.

During this, Luke complained to Chewie.

"Chewie, they can't do this! Stop them! They can't take me away from you! We have to rescue Han and Leia! How am I supposed to rescue _anyone_ if Vader is my guardian?"

/What I'm wondering is, what does he want you for/

"Well, I was wondering that too."

"There you go!" Parcey said. "Simple, and easy to deal with."

Parcey took the data pad, and left the room.

"No! Wait!" Luke pleaded.

Parcey either didn't hear him or didn't care, because she went on without pausing.

Vader walked towards the bed, his since of ownership complete.

"You can't do this to me! I can leave whenever I want!" Luke declared, trying to get out of bed.

Vader put his hand on Luke's shoulder and forced him down.

Seeing this, Chewie growled threateningly.

"Luke is no longer your responsibility, Wookie," Vader said. "I suggest you leave before I have you removed from the premises."

"You can't talk that way to Chewie!" Luke declared.

"I can talk any way I like, child."

"I am NOT a child! And you have no authority over me!"

"On the contrary, Luke, I have just become your legal guardian."

To Be Continued…….

**Author's Note: Please review! Your reviews are what inspire me!**


	6. A New Strike Team

**A.N: Okay, so I've _really_ been updating a lot today! Don't ask me why, because I don't know the answer! **

**From here on out, it would be best if you've read The Truce at Bakura. It's a Star Wars novel. If you haven't read it, that's fine. But you will understand the story a little better if you did.**

**Chapter Five: A New Strike Team**

"Nooo!" Luke cried in denial, now trying desperately to get out of the situation that he had so foolishly gotten himself into.

_How could I have been so stupid?_ Luke thought to himself.

Chewie was now very angry, and, like a true Wookie, he showed his anger in violent ways. He started breaking everything in his way, trying to get to Luke.

But while all this was going on, Vader called troopers in, to get rid of Chewie.

"Get this Wookie out of here! Use whatever means necessary!"

"Nooo!" Luke called again.

He looked around for something, anything he could use to free himself from Vader's grasp. But Vader knew that Luke would try to do this, and grabbed his son's arms, keeping him in place until the Wookie was out of sight. Luke was still thrashing wildly, so Vader put a gloved hand to Luke's forehead, and forced him into a deep sleep.

When Luke's body stilled, Vader laid him back down on his bed, covered him with the blanket, and stepped back to study him properly.

His son had anger and that was good. But his emotional connection with the Wookie bothered him. Having the boy forcibly separated from Chewbacca was proving to be a little too difficult for his son to handle. That alone had been obvious. Hopefully, Luke would be able to get over this soon.

The boy nearly _glowed_ with the light side of the Force. It was very intriguing to say the least. The sun coming through from the window lit up Luke's golden hair, creating a hallow of innocence. His son was so perfect! So _light_! It was almost a shame that he'd have to destroy that light with the Dark Side of the Force. Maybe he could speak to his master and find a way to make the Emperor happy without tapping into Luke's perfection and twisting it into something evil.

Vader knew that Luke was eighteen, but he looked young enough to be sixteen. That just added to his simple charm. How did the Dark Lord of the Sith end up with such a beautiful child?

That Wookie had nearly taken his son away from him. Vader could never let that happen. The child looked se _delicate_. Vader felt that if he took his eyes off the boy for a second, he would shatter into a million pieces. But Vader knew that as long as Luke lived in his protection, no harm could ever come to him. The boy was _his_ now.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chewie ran through the streets, and back to where he'd hidden the Falcon. If Vader wouldn't let Luke go now, then Chewie would just have to come back later with reinforcements.

First, he had to rescue Han and Leia. Han always wore a tracking device in his left boot so that Chewie could track him if anything went wrong. That tracking device had come in handy a lot during Han and Chewie's smuggling days! Han would get them into the worst sort of trouble. He was a lot like what Luke was now; a trouble maker. But a good one.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Han and Leia were led down a hallway inside the aliens' ship. They had been being kept in a cell for the past few days. It was good to get a little exercise. But Leia was too worried to think positive.

"What do you think they want?" Leia whispered to Han.

"Beats me. I hope Chewie and the kid are all right."

"They're probably much better off than we are!"

Han opened his mouth to speak, but was shut up by one of the aliens.

"No talking!"

They continued to walk in silence until they came to a huge door. It was opened, and Han and Leia were shooed in. Inside was another alien.

"What are these things, again?" Han asked

"I think they're called the Ssi-ruuk," Leia whispered back.

The alien that they had been led to studied them for a moment, and then turned to one of the guards angrily.

"Neither of these humans is the one we're after, Bluescale!"

"But, Firwirrung, you said that we'd find the one on Corescaunt in that Falcon ship! We brought you the humans we found!"

"Did any of the humans escape?" Firwirrung asked.

"Well… there was one other human that we couldn't manage to capture," Bluescale admitted reluctantly.

"Fool! That was the one we were after!"

Han and Leia froze with fear. Luke? They were after Luke? But why? What was so special about him?

"Get back to Corescaunt, and don't come back until you have him!"

"But sir, what about these two?"

"They will make marvelous battle droids."

"WHAT?" Han and Leia screamed.

They were led out protesting and angry the whole time.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Once Bluescale had taken the prisoners away, Firwirrung sat down tiredly. He had been turning humans into battle droids for some time now. He planned, when he had enough, to take over the galaxy. But now was not the time. He needed more. But he needed the one with those special Force abilities to do it.

Dev had died in an accident about a month ago. Yes, Dev had been good at using the Force. But this new one was stronger. But not strong enough to resist capture. He'd just been lucky the first time. He would not escape again.

He couldn't make any battle droids without a Force strong individual. That meant that those other two humans would have to be kept healthy until he could capture the young Force user.

Then he would be able to make battle droids again. He would be able to complete his army. Palpatine was going down! As for Vader… he may make a good battle droid as well.

No. Vader was too strong. He'd have to find some other way to reduce the risk of Vader. The Emperor had to go. But what about Vader? Oh well! He'd know when he was ready to know. Right now, he had to busy himself with getting another strike team together.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

**A.N: I updated, happy? I just have to let you guys know that I'm not updating anymore today… I think. Well! Review please, and let me know if this story is still too lame to continue!**


	7. Don't Go Breaking My Heart

**A.N: Guess what? I have a new profile on where you can read a special version of this story, _Legal Guardian_! It has some changes that make the story more realistic and believable for those of you who have criticized my work. Also, there is some dialogue in this chapter that you won't understand if you don't read the altered version of _Legal Guardian _first.**

**There is a link in my profile that will take you to the story. You can't miss it! It says ALERT, ALERT, ALERT. If you can't see it, then you're just blind. Have fun!**

**Extended A.N: This isn't really related to the story in any way, but I'm so happy that I just HAD to tell you guys about this! I got four new CD's today! All of them are soundtracks. Here is a list of them:**

_**The Little Mermaid**_

_**Spirit**_

_**The Cheetah Girls 2**_

_**Ella Enchanted**_

**I know that most of you guys are older than me, and you're probably thinking I'm stupid for getting so excited about having these. But at my age, music is half of your life. (Okay, not half, but I can't imagine living without music!)**

**Alright, on with the story! (At last!)**

**Chapter Six: Don't Go Breaking My Heart**

Luke awoke to the sound of Vader's breathing. If it weren't for the breathing, he wouldn't have wanted to get up. But just knowing that Vader still had him made Luke want to yell and scream. How could he have been so stupid? Vader couldn't be trusted.

EVER!

Luke quickly opened his eyes and sat up.

"So, you finally decided to wake up, did you?" Vader's voice rumbled.

"I hate you," Luke said in a low, and almost dangerous, voice.

Vader paused, and for a minute, he forgot to breathe. He had heard many people say they hated him, but hearing it from his own son nearly brought tears to his eyes.

Wait a minute! What kind of sith was he? What did he care if his son hated him or not? When did he start feeling like this? When did he come to like –maybe love- his son so much?

Luke was glaring at him. Maybe it was Vader's turn to say something.

"You hate me? Why do you hate me?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Well, until you finally decide to tell me what _really _happened to my father, I will still say that you killed him, and that alone is a very good reason to hate you. But rest assured that I can list a whole lot more recent reasons if you don't think that's enough!"

So… Luke wanted to know the truth? Well, Vader had withheld the truth long enough. It was time for Luke to know.

"I can tell you what happened to your father, young one. You see, I am your father."

Tears filled Luke's eyes, and he shook his head in denial.

"No," he said in a small, almost helpless sounding, voice. "No, that can't be true!" But the more he denied it, the more Luke felt that Vader _was_ telling the truth.

"Luke, it _is_ true. More true than anything Kenobi ever told you."

"NO!"

Oh great! Luke was getting out of control again! Vader didn't know what he'd do now that the Wookiee wasn't here to calm the boy down.

"Son…" Vader began.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Luke demanded.

"Luke…"

"SHUT UP! I don't want to talk to you!"

"Then listen!" Vader yelled over Luke's screaming voice. After Luke quieted down, (which took a while,) Vader began to speak again. "What I told you is true. I changed my name to Darth Vader when I became a sith, and left the name Anakin Skywalker, and everything that the name meant, and that entire life, behind me."

That was the wrong thing to say. Hearing this, Luke threw himself down on his pillow, and wept uncontrollably. Luke felt too miserable to think about how stupid it was for him to cry.

Now Vader felt like his heart was going to break at the site of his son in so much distress. Distress that he, himself had inflicted upon the boy. Apparently, Luke had still not been ready for this. Vader should have been more patient with the child.

Vader wanted to comfort Luke, but apparently, he was the cause of Luke's anguish. Any contact with him right now, would just make the situation worse.

Vader turned a walked out of the room, and locked the door behind him. He would come back later when Luke had calmed down.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Bluescale, and the rest of the Ssi-ruuk strike team, slowly crept along the streets, keeping close to the shadows, as they made their way to Vader's palace.

They encountered several stormtroopers along the way, but they had been dealt with easily, and silently. As soon as they got to the palace, they would scale the outside walls with their special equipment, and make their way to the young human's room. It wouldn't be long before Firwirrung had his prize.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Luke slowly shook himself, and looked around. Still the same bedroom. Still the same words.

_I am your father._

No! It wasn't true! Luke wouldn't believe it! But he had to get out of here. He had escape and get to his friends. He needed to find Chewie and help him rescue Han and Leia.

Luke ran to the closet and opened the doors. There, he saw the clothes that he had worn the night Han and Leia had been captured. Luke grinned. At least he'd be able to wear his own clothes when he escaped!

Luke began changing into his street clothes. They were darker colored clothes. Perfect for escaping in!

Just as Luke finished putting them on, he heard a loud crash, and he turned to see the huge window that was on the far side of his room smash into a million tiny pieces, and large, dark figures ran into the room, towards him.

The alarms began blazing, adding to the chaos. He heard screaming voices, and people running down the halls.

But Luke's attention was drawn back to the intruders. Now that Luke got a good look at them, he gasped. They were the same aliens that had captured Han and Leia! They had come back for him!

Luke ran toward the door, but he found that it was locked. Darn Vader for locking him in, now of all times!

Suddenly, one of the aliens grabbed him from behind, and pulled him back. Luke began to call out for help, but right in the middle of the act, he was stunned, and fell unconscious.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Bluescale picked up the stunned, human boy, and threw him over his shoulders, as he made his way back out the window, and down the palace wall.

Mission accomplished. This time, there had been no mistakes. Maybe Firwirrung would reward him for doing a mission right for once.

Bluescale smiled, and climbed aboard their ship, the others following him up the ramp. They had come, got what they wanted, and made a quick escape. No problem. Just another small victory for the Ssi-ruuk, leading them on to the major victory still to come. And it would come very soon, now that they had the boy.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

As soon as Vader heard the alarms, his first thought was of Luke. Was the boy attempting an escape?

Vader made his way down the hall to Luke's room, but all the stormtroopers running around made it very difficult.

Before Vader could make it to his destination, he felt a strong sense of surprise, dread and fear, coming from Luke. The boy was in trouble!

Vader broke into a run, and finally reached Luke's room. Unlocking the door, Vader burst in, and looked around.

Just as he'd feared, Luke was nowhere to be found. The window had been busted open, and there were shards of glass on the floor.

Vader ran to the window and looked down. There was nobody in sight. Whoever had done this had made a quick getaway.

"Sir, what are your orders?"

Vader turned to see an officer, accompanied by twelve troopers.

"Find the people who broke in here, and catch them! By the way, they kidnapped Skywalker. Bring him back to me. And if I find that he has been harmed in _anyway,_ I will blame _you!_ Is that clear?"

The officer gulped. "Yes, My Lord."

Everyone but Vader left. He stood in the middle of the room, lost in thought. He _knew_ that he couldn't let the child out of his sight! He _knew_ that if he left him alone for a minute, something would happen that would snatch away his only child forever. Why did this have to happen? His son had told him about the aliens that had captured his friends, but Vader had never thought that the attackers would be so desperate as to raid his palace to get his son.

What did they want with his young son? What did the child have that they wanted? Where they going to kill him?

NO! They wouldn't kill him! They _couldn't_ kill him! If they killed Luke, they would kill Vader. It was now clear to him now, that he couldn't live without Luke. He couldn't live without knowing that his son was safe with him by his side. Vader would give _anything_ to bring his son back to him! Stars, he'd even become Anakin Skywalker again, if only he could insure the boy's safety.

"I'm sorry, Padme," Vader whispered. "I'm sorry that I couldn't keep our child safe. I'm sorry that I wasn't fast enough to rescue him. I'm sorry for everything! Stars, I'm so sorry!"

Vader fell to his knees, unable to stand any longer, and wept. And far away, in a land where deceased people live, a beautiful woman with long, curly brown hair, wept as well, unable to stand seeing her beloved in such distress.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

To Be Continued…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

**A.N: Oh, gosh! And _I'm _the one who could never stand drama! (tears in eyes)**

**Sorry for losing my composure in front of you guys! (sniff, sniff) please review!**


	8. Angels Wait

**Chapter Eight: Angels Wait… Until They Get Really Bored**

He was slowly coming to his senses. The first thing he noticed was the hard ground that he was lying on. The second was a certain feeling that he couldn't explain. It told him that he wasn't alone.

Luke slowly opened his eyes, the events that took place right before he was stunned started rushing back to him. He couldn't decide if this was better or worse then being with Vader.

"Kid! You're awake!"

It was Han!

Yep, Luke decided that this was much better then being with Vader. At least he was with his friends. Because not only was Han here, but Leia was with them as well!

"Luke, we were so worried about you!" Leia exclaimed, hugging him. "Of course, now that you're here, I'm even more worried about you."

"Huh?" Luke asked, confused. Why would Leia be worried about him? Their situation couldn't be _that _bad, could it? "What are you talking about?"

Leia was about to answer him, but Han interrupted. "They want you for something big, kid. We don't know what it is, but I hope it's better then what they want Leia and me for."

Luke couldn't imagine what these aliens would want him for. What had he ever done to them? Heck, all of a sudden he was like the most important being in the universe that everyone wanted. He almost preferred being an anonymous farmboy. But one thing was bugging him…

"What do they want you and Leia for?"

"Okay, I don't know how they plan to do it," Han began, "But I think they want to turn us into battle droids."

That explanation was just too hilarious for Luke. He burst out laughing, and ended up getting bewildered looks from his friends.

"Luke, this is no laughing matter!" Leia declared. "We have to get out of here!"

Han sighed. "That's what you've been saying for the past few days."

Leia let out an exasperated laugh. "Well why don't _you _try to get us out, nerfherder?"

Han flashed Leia a grin as only a scoundrel could. "No thanks, your worshipfulness. I prefer not to waste my energy on something that I can't accomplish."

"Oh, then I guess you _never _use _any _of your energy, because I know for a fact that you can't accomplish _anything!_" Leia said angrily.

"Well I see you two have been bonding," Luke commented with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Han and Leia never seemed to be able to get along with each other, and even after being captured by aliens, and locked up, they _still _couldn't stop arguing. Though it was ironically funny, Luke decided not to laugh. It may only succeed in making the other two mad.

Luke _was _curious though, as to why the aliens wanted him. He thought for a moment that maybe they had figured out that he was Vader's son, and maybe just wanted to hold him for ransom. But he dismissed that idea within a second. No one knew, and he was determined to keep it that way. He still didn't believe that Vader, the most feared person in the galaxy, was his father. The whole idea was just too far out, and the consequences of it actually being true were just too much for Luke to contemplate right now. Too much, too hard, too fast…

…

After six hours and no results, Vader was nearly a nervous wreck. Anything could have happened to his son by now. The worry that they may seriously harm the boy was driving him crazy. He had lost so much in his life. In fact, his life had been full of loss. First, Qui-Gon had been killed, then later, his loving mother had been snatched away from him by the Tuskin Raiders. And even after that, fate was not finished with him. His wife, his beautiful angel, the woman who had loved him beyond belief had died. Probably because of him. He had endured so much pain, and now, his son, his only child, his last possible chance of happiness in this galaxy was missing, and he could do nothing to find him. Never before had Vader felt so helpless!

"Sir?"

The voice of his personal assistant brought Vader out of his feelings of hopelessness. Perhaps he had news.

Vader was right….

"My lord, we have located the intruders. They are in the Ruan system, just two parsecs away from here."

What luck! The kidnapers had jumped into hyperspace after leaving the planet, only to come out of lightspeed twenty minutes later! Perhaps he'd have his son back with him sooner then he thought.

"Very good. Prepare my shuttle, and alert the _Executor_. We are going to Ruan."

"Right away, my lord," the assistant said, leaving to carry out Vader's commands.

Vader was about to follow him, but suddenly a white fog began to surround him. His first reaction was to take out his lightsaber, and slash his way through, but something about it caused him not to. There were voices. Full of love, happiness, grief, pain… and loss…

… _Are you an Angel?_

… _Many things will change when we reach the capital, Ani, but my caring for you will remain…_

… _You're exactly the way I remember you in my dreams…_

… _You're making fun of me!_

… _We could keep it a secret…_

… _We'd be living a lie… I couldn't do that…_

… _I truly, deeply, love you…_

… _I will not let this dream come true, Padme, I won't lose you the way I lost my mother…_

… _Anakin, you're a good person, don't do this!_

… _I'm doing this to protect you…_

… _There is good in him, I know…_

"Padme…" Vader whispered. "I'm sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing, but it turned out to be the worst mistake of my life. If I could take back what I did all those years ago, I would."

With a swirl of the wind – that shouldn't have been in a completely concealed room – and a brilliant flash of light, and angel appeared in front of him. But this wasn't just any angel. This was his angel.

"Padme!"

"Anakin." The simple word caused him to lose his balance under all the emotion he felt behind that single word. There was sorrow, pain, grief… and hope.

"Padme, I never meant to kill you. I wanted to protect you." He said this with all his heart, for he meant every word. This is what he'd always meant. She would have still been alive if it hadn't been for him.

"It's not your fault, Ani." She was so honest. She was telling him the truth. That truth caused all those years of regret vanish into the fog. She had called him _Ani_. That simple, childhood name. The name that she called him when she was proud. "It was Palpatine's fault. He was the one who poisoned your mind with lies that he could save me. It had always been his intent that I die long before he even knew of you."

It was true. There had been many assassination attempts. Many people had tried to kill her. Starting with the Trade Federation when they invaded Naboo. He realized now that Palpatine had always been behind that. And the assassination attempts that happened right before the Clone Wars. Those had been his fault too! Why, everything Palpatine had ever told him was a lie! How did he ever think that he could believe that murdering snake?

"What do you want me to do, Padme?"

He would do anything she asked. He would do it because he loved her. Love was the whole reason he had done everything that had gotten him to where he was now, but love could also get him out of this situation. Love is a many splendored thing. It lifts you up out of despair, it brings together all that is good so that it may overcome evil, it fills your life with everything that you missed without it. All you need is love.

"Come back to us, Anakin. Be who you once were. Only then can you save our son."

Hadn't he already done that? Hadn't all the worry and compassion, and the love he felt for Luke changed him?

As if she could read his mind, Padme answered him. "Yes, you are more then half way through the transformation. There's just one more thing…"

Padme glided toward him, all the light in the room followed her. She stopped in front of him, and before he could ask why, she lifted his mask, revealing his scared face. Because of the air in this room, he could still breathe.

He was afraid that Padme would be horrified by what she'd found under the mask. But he was wrong. She smiled, and planted a long kiss on his lips. The kiss seemed to last forever. It went on and on. He forgot everything. It was all lost in that kiss. When she finally drew back, he noticed something different. He lifted a gloved hand to his face.

It was smooth!

He reached up to the top of his head. His mullet was back. His shaggy brownish/blonde hair waved triumphantly above his head. Everything was back! Even the limbs he'd thought were lost forever!

"I thought you'd be pleased," Padme giggled. "Put this on under your armor." She held up what he thought had been burned in the lava at Mustafar… his Jedi robes.

"What…?"

"For now, you must continue to act as Darth Vader, but when the time is right, you may take off the mask forever. Now hurry. You must go save your son."

…

**A.N: I finally updated! Please review!**

…


	9. Worries

**A.N: As you guys may have noticed, I've been on a roll, updating my stories. Since school is officially over, I plan to continue updating all my unfinished stories until they are complete. Hopefully, you guys can look forward to an update from me every few days. **

**Thank you, ****Vera for reminding me of this story. It's probably because of your review on Shooting Star that I'm updating. So thanks again.**

**Also, before I continue with this next chapter, I would like ask you all to name one of my stories that you want updated. Include the title of the story in your review. Thanks! Now finally, on with the story…**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Worries**

As Vader, now Anakin in masquerade as Vader, thought, it only took twenty minutes to get to the Ruan system, where his son was being held. It was easy to figure out which planet Luke had been taken to. It was the only planet with tons of alien ships surrounding it.

Anakin had his shuttle and as many storm troopers as he thought he'd need prepared for the attack. He wanted to get to Luke as soon as possible, for he had no idea what they may be doing to him at this very moment.

Anger flared through Anakin's face. The dark side was very close, tempting him, but remembering Padme's words, Anakin forced himself to calm down. Though pretending to be Vader would be easier if he used the dark side, Anakin was smart enough to realize now that if he gave into his anger, he'd be going over the same mistakes all over again.

Anakin hurried aboard his shuttle and got into the pilot chair. If all worked out, he would soon have his son again…

…

A few minutes after Han and Leia stopped arguing, the Ssi-ruuk had come and taken Luke somewhere. Luke resisted as best he could, but one human boy was no match for five strong Ssi-ruuk. Han and Leia helped as much as they could, but there really wasn't much they could do, and they were soon locked in the room again.

"_Now_ you've done it," Leia said angrily.

Han turned around looking very surprised and outraged that Leia would blame this all on him. "_Excuse me!?_ Why in the seven _hells _of Corellia is this _my_ fault!?"

Leia opened her mouth to say something, but then realized that there really wasn't anything she could say that would make it seem like it was Han's fault. "Um... ah, well... for one thing you... uh... I don't _know!_ But we are in big trouble, so this _has_ to be your fault!"

Han shook his head and sighed. "I'm worried about Luke too."

Leia looked at Han. She was surprised that he could see through her criticizing and know that all she was really doing was letting out her anger and worry on him. Before she knew it, she was crying.

Han came over and put his arm around her. Leia leaned against Han. For the first time since meeting him, she really appreciated Han for being there with her.

"I never thought that I'd let you come anywhere near me," Leia commented.

"Yeah," Han said. "The only thing we have in common is caring about Luke."

Leia gave a little laugh. "I agree with you on that." She paused. "And that's another thing we have in common."

…

The Ssi-ruuk dragged Luke to a room that scared him as soon as he entered it. It was a very large room with tons of wires all over the place. In the middle of the room was some big metal table like thing with braces on it. Luke guessed correctly that the braces were for holding a person in place.

Surrounding the table, were four chairs, made with the similar metal material. On each of the chairs, were metal helmets connected by more wires. As soon as Luke was brought into the room, all he wanted was to get back out as soon as possible.

As they lead him toward the table, Luke didn't know what they were planning; all he knew was that he needed to get away. He kicked and struggled as much as he could, but that hardly delayed what was coming…

In only a few minutes, Luke found himself bound to the table, his shirt off, and wires were being attached to him. Luke looked around fearfully, wondering what they were going to do to him.

Suddenly, he remembered what Han said…

"… _Okay, I don't know how they plan to do it, but I think they want to turn us into battle droids…"_

Luke had laughed at what Han had said then, but what if it was true? What if they were planning to use _him_ to do it!?

"I wanna go home," Luke said in a small voice. He had never felt more vulnerable in his life.

* * *

**A.N: I know I've probably hit a new low making such a **_**short**_** chapter. But this is just sort of like a small chapter to build up the tension for the climax chapter coming soon.**

**Please review!!!**


	10. How to Save a Life

**A/N: I'm trying to get all my stories done before school starts next week because I know when school starts, I'll have hardly any time for updating stories and the last thing I want to do is keep you guys waiting for updates.**

**Chapter Ten: How to Save a Life**

Luke was terrified. He didn't know what was going to happen or how in the worlds they were planning to use _him_ to transform people into droids. But he knew one thing… he did _not_ want to be a part of it! Unfortunately, it seemed that he was the crucial element to making this machine-like thing work.

Suddenly, the door flew open to reveal Vader and a squad or two of stormtroopers behind him. Vader's lightsaber was ignited and he looked furious. But something about his Force presence had changed since the last time Luke had seen him. He couldn't pin-point it, but he knew _something_ was different.

Being strapped to the dark, metal table, Luke could do nothing but watch as Vader swooped in like an avenging god and began killing all the Ssi-ruuk. He didn't even need those stormtroopers there behind him because Vader did all the work before they could do a thing.

When all the Ssi-ruuk in the room had been killed, Vader came over to where Luke lay.

"Are you alright?" he asked urgently as he helped release Luke from his bonds that were holding him down on the table.

"Yes," Luke said breathlessly. He was about to say more when more Ssi-ruuk, alerted by the noises of battle from a few seconds earlier, came bounding into the room.

Vader stood in front of Luke, protecting him from the on-coming aliens. When they finally came up to him, he was too engrossed in his fighting to notice Luke slip out the door behind him.

…

As soon as Vader was busy with the Ssi-ruuk again, Luke ran out, heading toward the room where Han and Leia were still being held prisoner in. He wasn't going to leave without them.

…

Anakin took another swing at the Ssi-ruuk. Their scales were hard and it actually proved to be a slight challenge to his trusty lightsaber.

His lightsaber came down on yet another Ssi-ruuk. He aimed for the head. Unfortunately he underestimated the substance that made up the Ssi-ruuk's helmet. His lightsaber broke in half and lay on the floor. The blade and the handle unattached from each other, and the blade disappeared. The energy source of the lightsaber blade came from the hilt which, now since it was unattached, couldn't offer any energy to the blade.

Luckily, a couple stormtroopers shot at the armor's week spots and were able to kill the Ssi-ruuk.

When the skirmish was done, Anakin turned around. It was then that he noticed that his son was not in the room. He started to panick.

"Luke!?"

Using the Force, he followed the boy's Force presence through the ship. Where was he going?

…

Luke finally made it to the floor where Han and Leia were on. He knew exactly where they were. Going to the room, he quickly unlocked the door and opened it. He was slightly taken back when he saw Han and Leia hugging each other.

"Okay… what did I miss?"

Han jumped in surprise and came running up to embrace his young friend. "Luke! What happened?"

"And why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Leia asked in a more skeptic voice.

Luke looked down and realized that he'd forgotten to grab his shirt when he ran out of the droid making room. "It's a long story."

…

In the meantime, Anakin, using Force-enhanced speed, came running down the hall in search of his son. He sighed in relief when he saw him embracing his friends. But his relief was short lived.

A few yards away in a shadowy spot in the corridor was a Ssi-ruuk aiming his blaster at Luke!

Anakin didn't have time to wonder why the Ssi-ruuk had suddenly decided that Luke needed to be killed. All he knew was that he needed to save Luke.

Anakin's hand automatically went to his belt, but he suddenly remembered that his lightsaber had been cut in half. He looked around for something else, but he didn't have time to think; the Ssi-ruuk was raising his blaster to take a shot.

Anakin did the only thing that came to mind… he ran as fast as he could and threw himself in front of Luke right when blaster shot was fired. Anakin felt a searing pain in his chest and went down on the floor. Blood came spurring out of his chest.

The shot was fatal.

When Luke saw what happened, he looked at Vader, then up at the Ssi-ruuk. With a surge of energy that he was clueless as to where it had come from, he caused the blaster the Ssi-ruuk was holding to fly to his hands. Taking a well-aimed shot, he killed the Ssi-ruuk, then dropped to his knees to check on Vader.

His father.

"Father!? Father, are you alright!?"

"FATHER!?" Han and Leia exclaimed.

But Luke wasn't paying attention to them. His focus was completely on the dark form lying on the floor.

"It's hopeless for me, Luke," Anakin said, getting the words out between labored breaths. You must go. Get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you," Luke said firmly. Then he added softly, "You saved my life."

"Anything, for you, son."

Luke didn't realize he was crying until he saw his tears splash on his father's armor.

"Luke…" Anakin said. His life was leaving him quickly. He didn't have time. "Take off my mask. Please"

"But… father…" Luke hesitated.

"Just do it," Anakin said calmly. "I want you to see me as I really am before… I die."

Luke nodded. Han and Leia watched in amazement as Luke gently took off the mask to reveal his fathers unscarred, smooth face and his shaggy light hair.

"Father?" Luke said in surprise.

Anakin, even though it hurt, took the rest of the armor off, revealing his Jedi robes, and smiled. "I knew you'd see me, Luke."

Luke couldn't believe this. Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith was gone. There was not a trace of that left in Anakin's face. This was his father. The father he'd dreamed about back on Tatooine, the father he'd always wanted was right here… and Luke loved him.

Something inside of Luke broke, and a whole torrent of tears came falling down his face. Luke buried himself in his father's arms. "Don't die, please don't die! ... I _need_ you!"

"It can't be stopped," Anakin said, wrapping his arms around his son. "I love you."

"I love you too, father," Luke sobbed. "So very much." Luke cried for a few more minutes. When he stopped he looked up, and realized that his father was no longer breathing.

Anakin Skywalker was dead.

"Nooo…" Luke moaned.

Even Leia and Han were upset by this. They knelt down next to Luke and comforted him as much as they could. But they didn't have time. Suddenly a blaster bold whizzed by their heads.

"Time to go, junior," Han said, trying to lift his friend to his feet.

"No!" Luke said. "I'm not leaving without him!"

"He's dead, buddy, we have to go!"

"I'm taking him with me!"  
…

Just as Luke said, he didn't leave without his father. He took Anakin's body up in his arms. When Han and Leia saw that there was no stopping him, they stooped down to help. With much struggling and difficulty, they got Anakin's body down with them to the docking bay.

When they got there, they got a huge surprise. Artoo and Threepio where lying there in a heap. They had been turned off. Luke switched them on, and Leia explained their situation.

"We've got to leave!" she declared.

"Really, I hadn't noticed!" Han declared sarcastically.

Suddenly, they saw the last thing they expected. It was the Falcon! Being piloted by Chewbacca!

With renewed enthusiasm, they ran to where the Falcon was landing. Chewie came down the ramp and relieved them of Anakin's body. They ran up the ramp and Han rushed to the cock-pit and started up the Falcon again.

As he did this, Han brushed his hand over the controls. "Man, I missed, ya' baby," he murmured to his ship.

…

As soon as they came out of the docking bay, small, alien fighters attacked them shooting repeatedly.

"Hey, guys!" Han yelled into the ship com. "I need ya'll at the guns!"

Luke and Leia rushed to man the guns while Chewie lay the body down on the floor and joined Han in the cock-pit.

They maneuvered through the multiplying ships. Some were shot down; work of Luke and Leia, but they were still, way outnumbered. The _Executor _had already been destroyed.

"We can't last much, longer, you guys," Han said, to everyone in general.

He would have loved to jump into lightspeed and leave all these guys behind, but there wasn't any room, and trying to make the jump in a crowded area like this could result in their deaths by crashing into numerous alien fighters.

It seemed like all hope was lost.

…

Luke was shooting as many fighters as possible, but he knew they couldn't last forever…

Suddenly, a whole group of ships appeared as they had just come out of hyperspace.

"It's Rouge Squadron!" Luke exclaimed disbelievingly.

And so it was. Rouge Squadron, led by Wedge Antillies came swooping down in perfect formation, shooting at the fighters.

"Mind if we join?" Wedge's voice came over the com.

"Always welcome," Han answered.

With Rouge Squadron helping, the odds were evened out fairly. Maybe they had a fighting chance after all…

…

One hour later, the battle was over. Both the Falcon, and Rouge Squadron were in hyperspace. When they were safe, Wedge explained the whole story.

As it turned out, Wedge and the whole squadron, after finding out what the Alliance was planning to do, they agreed full well with Luke, Han and Leia. They purposefully got themselves kicked out as well, and from then on, they'd been looking for Luke, Han and Leia.

"I'm glad we found you when we did," Wedge said.

"Yeah," Han laughed. "Me too."

…

In the meantime, Luke wasn't feeling half as triumphant. He was sitting in the Falcon's main living space next to Anakin Skywalker's body.

"Your father turned out to be a pretty good guy," Luke heard Han say behind him.

Luke nodded. He could speak. He was afraid that if he tried, he'd start crying again.

Leia came in as well and stood behind him. "It's okay Luke."

Luke looked up at her, and tried to smile. When he looked back, he screamed. His father's body began fading away, then it disappeared entirely.

"What's happening!?" he yelled.

Something shining in the corner drew his attention.

It was his father! Ghost Anakin walked toward him. "Hello, Luke."

Luke was too happy to speak, but he soon got over that. "Father! You're… you're…"

"A ghost," Anakin said. "I never liked ghosts until I saw your mother as one."

"You saw my mother?" Luke gasped.

Anakin nodded. "Yes. And I've just seen her now. We'll be visiting you Luke, so there's no reason to mourn."

"Can't I see mom?"

Anakin shook his head. "Not right now. Later." Here he looked at Leia. "I've just learned something that we will both need to explain."

Then as soon as he had come, he was gone again. There was silence for a few moments.

"I'm getting therapy," Han muttered.

Luke and Leia looked at him, then back at each other. Then out of the silence, they started laughing.

**--------------**

**The End**

**--------------**

**A/N: I hope this ending was satisfying. I'm so glad that I've finally written it. Writing a climax is very difficult and itimidating.**

**Please review!**


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